First Christmas
by Solknight371st
Summary: A small story focusing on Nanoha and Hayate's first Christmas together as a family. Please enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

Christmas Eve

"Ow."

I yelped as I tried to shift the boxes in my hands around so I could rub my shin.

Through the darkness, I could barely make out the silhouette of my wife as she shushed me. She was holding another pile of boxes in her arms while trying to maneuver around a chair.

"Sorry." I mutter to her while fixing a glare on the small table I had bumped into. We really should move it somewhere else.

Stopping for a second so I could rub my ankle, I glance around the room. Here we are, stumbling around in the middle of the night, trying to fit piles of boxes under a large pine tree.

"Honestly, why a pine tree of all things. The needles always get everywhere."

"Stop complaining." My wife chastises me as she finishes positioning the presents around the dim tree. "Would you rather have a palm tree?" She points up at the roof. "We could cut a hole in the ceiling so it'll fit."

"Nyahaha. Please don't joke about that. We just got the last one fixed."

My wife turns to me and gives me what I can only assume is a pout. "Not my fault the previous owners didn't take care of the place. How was I supposed to know the floor was weak there?"

I simply sigh as I maneuver next to her and start unloading the presents in my hands.

"It does look good though, right?"

I stop for a second to look around again. Even with the lights off, I can still see the lights and decorations wrapped around everything. The tree, the fireplace, even the knobs on the kitchen drawers are covered in holiday decorations.

I close my eyes as I think back to a few days ago.

* * *

"Mama. Why is there a tree in the house?"

I look up from the stove to see a pair of mismatched eyes staring at me, a finger pointing at the large tree sitting next to the wall.

"That's because it's a Christmas tree, Vivio." I glance over to see my wife placing an ornament on a branch. A small gasp draws my attention to the hallway.

"A real Christmas tree. Really? They have Christmas here too?" A mess of black hair flies by. I can almost see stars shining in Erin's eyes as she looks at the tree in amazement.

I feel a tug at my apron and look down to see Vivio looking up at me in confusion. "Mama, what's Christmas?"

Before I can answer, Vita pipes up from the living room. "It's a holiday from Earth. Apparently every winter people chop down trees to put in their house, decorate them, and sing songs about some jolly fat man in a red coat."

While not completely correct, it does manage to answer Vivio's question. Somehow.

"Why does he wear red?" Erin tilts her head in confusion. "Shouldn't he be wearing black." I tilt my head in confusion before realizing everyone else is doing the same. "I mean, Santa-san is always sneaking into houses to leave presents, so it would be smarter for him to not be seen."

Just who filled her head with those kinds of thoughts. As if in answer to my question, Erin started pointing at some invisible scapegoat. "T-that's what Oto-san always said. Oto-san told me."

Of course.

My apron started shaking. "Sneaking? Mama, is someone going to be sneaking into the house?"

Urgh. How do I explain what Santa does to a seven year old girl. Magic was the normal explanation back home, but that obviously won't work here. "Um, well…"

"You see, Vivio, back on Earth, at this place called the North Pole, there is this big workshop where Santa-san makes a who~le lot of toys. Then on Christmas Eve, he goes out and delivers those toys to all the good boys and girls so they could open them the next morning."

Phew, I sneak a small smile at my wife in thanks.

"But how does he do that?" Here comes the hard part, explaining something that is part tradition and part belief in magic, to two children who live in a world of magic.

My wife turns to Erin, and pulls her in closer. "You see, Santa-san is an elf who can fly really fast. He flies into people's houses and leaves presents for everyone there." She reaches up to the platter of cookies I was baking for desert. "But, in order to make sure he leaves the presents, we have to leave him a small gift." She hands Vivio the cookie she took. "We leave behind a plate of cookies for him to eat. He really loves the chocolate ones."

She stands up and claps her hands together. "Santa-san gets his cookies, leaves the presents you asked for, and moves on to the next house."

By now Vivio was staring up at her mother with just as many stars in her eyes as her older sister.

"So we really get presents?"

"Santa-san can come here?"

My wife simply nods her head. "Yep, So, why don't you two go write a list of the presents you want. Give them to Nanoha-chan when you're done, and we'll make sure they get to Santa-san."

With an excited laugh, Vivio runs to her room, cookie still in hand, with Erin trailing right behind her. I would laugh myself, but I'm more amazed at just how easily Hayate-chan can spin a story like that.

With a congratulatory giggle to herself, Hayate-chan grabs a cookie from the tray and walks back towards the tree.

* * *

"Yes, it certainly does." I hear a happy giggle next to my ear. "You did a wonderful job." A light kiss graces my cheek as I place the last present under the tree.

"Not bad for our first Christmas, huh?"

A flash her a small smirk. "Save the congratulations until after we have to clean up everything. That's always the hard part." A strained laugh tells me she hadn't thought of that.

Standing up, I step back to admire the view of the tree in front of me, and the presents under it. It'll look beautiful when we turn on the lights.

I wince a little as I look at the number of presents sitting under the tree. Only ten total. Back home, Christmas involved presents, but was mostly about spending time with family and friends. Erin at least grew up with that definition of Christmas. Vivio however, just learned about it a few days ago. I wasn't sure if she would be able to understand that.

I'm brought out of my musings by a small moan from behind me. Turning around, I can see my wife biting into a cookie from the table.

"Nanoha-chan, these cookies are delicious. The perfect reindeer treats."

"Nyahaha. Thanks. One of the perks of growing up in a bakery is learning how to make perfect cookies, I guess." My wife takes another bite. A small jingling sound can be heard every time she shakes her head. "But Hayate-chan, I thought those cookies were for Santa-san?"

She gives me a cute look over her shoulder. "Why should Santa-san get to have all the treats. The reindeer do all the work. Besides," She reaches up to tap the antlers on her head, making them jingle. "Don't I make a cute reindeer?"

I look away, hoping the darkness hides the heat I can feel rising to my cheeks. I should have expected this when I married her, but I didn't realize she could be this cute, this often.

I sigh to myself as I try to figure out how I can get her back, only to look away again when she winks at me.

Resigning myself to my fate, I grab a cookie from the tray and sit down on the couch. I made these cookies damn it, so I should be able to enjoy them. Wrapping my arm around my wife, I look over at the tree sitting in the corner.

I'm suddenly really excited for tomorrow.

**Author's Note: Just a small something I thought up. Hope you enjoy. Nonexistent bonus points to whoever gets the palm tree and ninja Santa references (Hint: Fate/Extra web thingies)**


	2. Chapter 2

Christmas Day

I'm jolted out of sleep by something landing on top of the bed.

"Mama! Mama! You have to see this!" Opening my eyes, I see a pair of mismatched eyes beaming at me. Her disheveled hair the only indication that she just got out of bed.

"What is it Vivio?" Hayate-chan mumbles from her place at my chest.

"He came! He really came!" Now she's jumping on the bed. I can already hear Erin running from her room to check the living room.

No point trying to rest now. I sit up, ignoring my wife's protests as she clings to my shirt. Putting on the brightest smile I can muster at the moment, I ask, "Who came, Vivio?"

Her smile gets even brighter as she takes a deep breath. "The elf!"

"Santa-san was here!" Erin rushes in as well, one of the presents in her hands. "Ka-san. Ka-chan. Can we open them?"

I manage to force a laugh at my kids' antics. Really Hayate-chan, an elf was the best you could come up with. "Now, now you two. Erin, put the present back for now, and give us some time to get dressed. The others will be here soon."

The two girls groan before reluctantly exiting the room.

I try to get up, only to be pulled back onto the bed, my wife's head now firmly planted in my chest.

"They can wait a few more hours."

I sigh to myself. I'll give her ten more minutes.

* * *

"Just how many did you guys get?" I bring my coffee mug up to my lips and stare at the redhead sitting next to me. "A couple of pairs of clothes and they would be fine. No need to get them all of this." She takes a sip from her mug. "Besides, they'll just get bored of them. And they probably won't even wear the holiday stuff you got them."

And yet I can't help but notice Vita-chan already wearing the bright red scarf we got for her. The puffy Santa hat definitely didn't help her if she was trying to make a point.

It was Hayate-chan's idea. Honest.

"Then again, she does have a point." Shamal-san takes a quick drink while Erin tears into her fourth present. "Isn't fourteen presents a bit much for their first Christmas?"

Fourteen?

"Huh? We only got ten." Hayate-chan starts counting the presents that are still left. "See, there are only…"

Huh? I didn't notice before, but there are four more presents than we left last night. Same wrapping paper and everything.

Without a word, everyone turns to look at Signum-san. Said swordswoman proceeds to calmly take another sip from her coffee. Why am I not surprised? She does tend to spoil them whenever she gets the chance.

Oh well, I guess this just means they get some extra presents. Nothing to bad, right.

And I'm immediately proven wrong when Vivio holds up a very new, and very expensive video game. Something we had decided we wouldn't get when we saw it on her list.

Seconds later, Erin pulls out another game. Okay, now we're glaring at her.

"I tried to stop her." Agito lets out a defeated groan, earning her a reassuring pat from Rein. "I told her it was too much. She bought them anyway."

That's it. We seriously need to have a talk with her later.

Signum-san, defeated, turns away in embarrassment. I hear her mumble 'traitor' into her coffee before I turn my attention back to my kids.

* * *

I stretch out on the bed, completely satisfied.

Aside from a few, setbacks, our first Christmas had turned out rather well. The girls enjoyed their gifts, and were now spending time playing with them.

From down the hall, I could hear sounds from the new video game system. I sigh. At the very least, it will get them to play together.

But did she really have to get something so expensive. How did she afford all this anyways.

Before I could pursue this line of thought, a hand appears at the corner of my vision. I pick up my head to see my wife motioning for me to follow her.

Suppressing a groan, I get up and follow her. "What is it, Hayate-chan?" She shushes me.

I can hear voices coming from the guest room.

"No, no. I'm at Nanoha's place for Christmas. You remember, I told you last week."

"Oh, right. That Earth holiday you mentioned. Sorry, I forgot."

I smile. Tilting my head slightly, I peek into the room. Sitting on the bed is Fate-chan, talking to another blonde through a holo-screen. It certainly was a surprise that she decided to visit, especially after… everything that happened between us. But I'm happy nonetheless.

Then again, hearing Vivio and Erin call her "Aunt Fate" when she arrived was worth it. If just for the smile on her face.

"So that's her, huh?" My wife whispers. I'm a bit surprised as well. From what little she told us I expected her to be a lot more… I don't know, masculine.

"Sorry, I'm planning to visit my family tomorrow through New Years. I haven't seen them in a while, and probably won't with all the work I have."

The woman in the holo-screen shrugged. "Probably for the best anyways. There's a ton of work sitting on my desk I have to get through." She groaned. "The general's going to have my head if I don't finish it."

"I see." Fate-chan's brow furrows in thought.

My wife chose this moment to let herself be known. "You should come next year! We'll save a spot for you at the table!"

I couldn't stop myself from giggling at how Fate-chan jumped. Her supposed girlfriend's expression pushed me over the edge however.

"Really? I'll be sure to save the date then." She just took the sudden outburst in stride.

Hayate-chan smiled and added, "Bring a present."

I could see her laugh through the screen. "I thought I was going to be the present." I'm starting to like her already.

"Geez. You two." Puffing out her cheeks as best she could, Fate-chan walked over to us. It was really hard to stop myself from laughing at just how red she got.

With a small sigh, she smiled. "I'll tell you the details later." Before she closed the door, she managed to mutter out a small "thanks".

"Well, that was fun." With a small spring in her step, my wife walks down the hallway towards the now empty living room.

Taking a look around, I see Vivio hovering around the table in the kitchen, watching Vita, Shamal-san, and Zafira play some card game. Outside, I can see Signum-san showing Erin some sword moves with the new wooden sword she got.

Rein-chan and Agito-chan had dozed off in one of the rooms. Which left just the two of us alone for the first time since this morning.

Suddenly, I feel a pair of arms wrap around my waist. When did she get behind me? "Well, Nanoha-chan? How do you think we did?"

I only had to look around to see just how we did. Back home, Christmas is considered a time for family and friends, with material gifts being a source of extra joy and happiness. Looking around, I see a typical Japanese Christmas.

I turn in my wife's arms. "Not bad for our first Christmas." She simply smiles and nods upwards. Above me is a piece of hastily pinned mistletoe.

Just what am I supposed to do with her?

"Merry Christmas, Nanoha-chan."

I smile, wrap my arms around her, and lean in for a kiss.

"Merry Christmas, Hayate-chan."

**Author's Note: And that's that. Just something I thought up about a week ago and thought I would write and upload. I like to think I'm getting better at first-person, but I would love to hear feedback. Good or bad. Doesn't matter, just say something. Hope you all enjoyed, and have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.**


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